LOCKED UP 5.9 24V Cummins Diesel Teardown. So You CAN Kill a 5.9... 

Years ago (2007-2011), I worked as a mechanic for Greyhound. One day, a mechanic said that the engine "JUST LOCKED UP" after he did an oil change. Another good mechanic said I know how I can tell how the engine, a series 60 Detroit, locked up. We went in the pit and removed the oil filters. Both oil filters were brand new and clean with no oil ever passing through them. Long story-short! We assumed the mechanic drained the old oil, replaced the oil filters, but forgot to add the necessary 10 gallons of fresh engine oil. After starting the engine and THEN IT LOCKED UP, the engine oil was added. That is why both oil filters were clean.

Thanks for another one. I'm 62, my kids are grown and on their own and this is my Saturday night entertainment. I say that as a compliment, I really enjoy your show. Best wishes young man.

I've been driving pickup trucks for work for over 30 years. Those exhaust manifolds are the best ones I've ever encountered for cooking lunch. I have done probably 80 meals on that nice big and flat manifold. These days there is so much stuff on an engine you can't really find a good spot to cook a foil wrapped meal.

Suggested fail sequence, 1/ broken rings. 2/ burning oil carbon products polluting lube oil, "spiral down" situation, the more they leak the more carbon produced/oil consumed, may even have led to engine"runaway" event. 3/ oil change intervals not frequent enough. 4/ carbon combustion products in lube oil caused bearing wear/failure. "Maybe", Original filter removed and cut open for examination when engine discovered seized. Replaced with a new filter just to "plug up" the hole for engine removal as no hope to repair engine in situ, having previous experience in similar situation. (Only the guess of an old diesel mechanic).

I know exactly the sound this made in its last moments. Cummins diesel clatter, gradually slowing clattering, followed by a loud SQUEAK as the engine locked up and then deafening silence.

Well I had 2, 5.9 Cummins and I can say without a doubt that engine was likely ran hard. I had the 2. Valve and a 4 valve both were exceptionally good. My fist was the 2 valve and I put around 500,000 on it and it ran perfect when I sold it. My second had almost 300,000 when the truck was stolen. I have nothing but good things to say about both. All you have to is drive them without your foot in them all the time. My first also had lots of idling time on it. I started it early in the morning and it ran till dark lots of days. Some even 24 hr days. Best engine I ever had. No break downs and no in the shop time. It was used commercially daily.

I love cummins (pre emission), it's amazing how simple engineering can put together such a package and runs for decades

18:17 - You pull the filter to cut it open to look for shavings, and then just throw a new one off the shelf on it to cover the hole as you're not sure you're pulling the engine until you cut it open and find glitter

Cannot be a video without Eric fighting the dipstick tube! 😝

Working in a construction shop for a number of years and on heavy equipment it looks like somebody used a lot of starting fluid. Broken rings are a telltale sign of abuse with starting fluid.

Blue is such a good 'ol pry bar. You should really consider a special retirement package for such a faithful tool.🤣🤣🤣

Do a 7.3 IDI at some point! Dirt cheap cores, and a lot of them died to cavitation. Would be cool to see a demonstration of that phenomenon.

FYI....That solenoid on the turbo is the wastegate solenoid. It is pulse width modulated by the computer to allow better boost control. When they fail, they mostly fail open leading to low and/or inconsistent boost levels.

With all the diesels you’ve been doing lately I think a 6.6 Duramax deserves to be done some justice given how the last one went.

Love your videos and humor. I’m 66 and still work on engines in my garage and can’t tell you how much I enjoy your videos. Keep up the good work. Thanks again.

Did you hear about the price of cars in Ireland? They're Dublin.

I've rebuilt dozens of these with nearly the exact symptoms. The injectors begin to fail. That causes the rings to fail. The rings eat the bore. They then begin to either drink oil like its going out of style or have enough blowby to fog mosquitoes. People will throw a bunch of stuff at them hoping it will cure it but its to late. If the injection systems don't kill them then it's typically a.dropped valve seat or erg cooler.

When I worked at dodge we saw a fair amount of damaged diesels. 7 out of 10 of them were of the “I have my oil tested and it’s still good after 20k miles” crowd. 3.75/10 were the tuner crowd. 1 in 40 was pure shit luck “that’s why it comes with a warranty”.

Around seven minutes in and I was pretty sure the engine ran for quite longer than anyone thought it COULD with little to no oil, got very very very very very VERY hot in the process.

Just wanted to say thank you. Watching you tear down so many different engines has taught me a LOT about engines. Extremely helpful as always.

I think that running rich and rolling coal will gum up the rings with carbon and will cause them to break, sometimes cracking the piston as well in the process. Once that happens and you start getting excessive blowby, it's going to gum up everything else. I'm not a mechanic, but my first guess would either be that it's an engine with a ton of miles on it or somebody tuned it poorly to piss off Greta only to wreck their engine in the long run.

I think I commented this in the past, but just in case I didn't... THANK YOU for making these videos! I know it takes extra time and effort to produce this content, and I genuinely appreciate it. I learn something(s) from every video. Thank you!

I've seen this on the bigger diesels... The top compression rings break just from wear or age and starts putting blowby in the crankcase, depending on how much blowby it can plug up the oil filter rather quickly. At that point either the filter bypass opens and you're running unfiltered oil through the engine or depending on the bypass setup(I think there's a bleed to sump on 5.9's but not 100%) you have 0 oil pressure. Mechanics could have forgot to put oil in it too and the sludgy oil is just from blowby in the crankcase.

Thanks so much for showing this. It bring s me back to my high school days (1968) when my father directed me, how to break down a car engine and its transmission: repair it and return it to good working order. Years, latter I became, after years of training, a maintenance Quality Assurance Officer for a squadron of planes. And a pilot. My greatest respect to you. My your days be profitable.

As a user of one of these I'm glad to see how rarely you end up with them

Probably the best engine Cummins made. Love the one in my 07 2500 powerhouse. Never misses a beat!! Great vid!!

This is definitely one of my favorite channels for sure! Thanks Eric

Watching from NZ and really appreciate the humour and quality of what you present. All the while increasing and sharing knowledge, experience. Great! TY

Perfect timing! I'm in the middle of working on a 5.9 24V Cummins right now!

We, your loyal viewers, love what you do and the way you do it. Your self-awareness is admirable, but it’s ok, we’re family! Also, the small, in-the-weeds details are very interesting, and make us feel like we are participating! Keep up the good work!

I haven't seen a single common rail 5.9 cummins come apart without having broken rings. Even my personal truck. They seem to run fine with them being broken somehow.

Instantly made my day better. Thank you, Eric!

An engine so badly locked up probably due to poor maintenance and oil filter problem. Very gripping tear down with lots of suspense in the end. You are methodical in your analysis like a sharp crime detective. Love your videos.

Thanks for the video Eric great job tearing it down. Take care of yourself and family and be Blessed ❤️❤️👍.

looks like the problem is related with the oil filter change , the new filter didn't let the oil go around the circuit (or the oil heat changer is clogged up ) and the engine run dry (or someone forget to fill with oil on service :3 ). When I have engines with vertical Filters , is good practice to fill them up (it's heavier but at least no/or less air trapped inside and the filter is already wet and offers less resistance to flow ) and screw it on its socket by hand . This is why I like having oil pressure gauges , instead of red light of "engine is dead" .

The solenoid on the turbo is essentially a boost controller. The part is "Turbo Wastegate Control Solenoid". I googled because I was wondering as well. Love your channel man!

"None of the tips have been snipped..." Lol got it.

I want to thank you. Not only are your vlogs therapeutic to me but you help me disassemble my hemi to install my cam. Minus the crank pulley lol

Those intake heaters are a sellable item. They're kind of spendy. I had an 07 with the 5.9, quit starting and running one day...diesel mechanic said it washed out 3 cylinders when it quit running, turned out it was the two batteries were shot wasnt heating intake. Put new ones in it fired up and ran fine. A guy made me an offer on it one day. I jumped on it. Miss the hell out if it. But it servedits purpose. Hauled a lot of heavy loads across the divide back here from motorcyle salvage yards around the state. Al i ever needed to do was change the oil and once a set if injectors and nozzles. Great vid.

I don't care how often you change the oil in any diesel its going to look black by the time it gets to the pan. That said the oil filter never had oil in it.

I started my engineering career at a Cummins facility...5.9B (24v version) cylinder head machining. Good times.

Nothing better than an engine teardown on a early sunday morning. Its become part of my sunday morning routine. Thank you for the entertainment, Eric.

I'm sure somebody has already said it in the comments, but the cylindrical thing hanging off the front of the compressor housing with the snipped wires is the wastegate solenoid. 04.5 to 07 model year 5.9 Cummins in the Ram trucks used that HE351CW with electronic wastegate as opposed to the conventional way the wastegate is operated. Even though it's a fixed geometry turbo, it has spooling characteristics very similar to the VGT offered with the 6.7 Cummins. It's arguably the best turbo ever used on a Cummins equipped Ram. Stock, these turbos support 500 horsepower with decent ease, and if you use one that's been sized for a larger compressor wheel, like a 64mm, 700-800 horsepower isn't so far fetched.

Great video. Short, Concise, and perfect commentary. Thank you.

Best night of the week!!

I've got that exact same engine stand and my 5.9 has been on it for a while now. Loaded as a full engine and now it's just a bare block, so that stand has plenty of capacity.

Dipstick tubes... well... dipstick tubes. I enjoy your channel. I've been a mechanic since 1972. Went from autos to industrial. Retired now. Enjoying it immensely.

Found this channel a couple days ago, interesting stuff - very bingeworthy !

im at 15:31 and im guessing this girl had HUGE ammounts of blowby, those cylinders are basically mirrors with how glazed they look and the huge deposits everywhere in the head indicate low load, my guess is that this thing either ate or leaked oil till it starved itself... will update later edit: HOT DIGGITY DANG shes worse for the wear than i expected 🤣but why did she starve? this is the stuff im glad to come every weekend to see in one full shot, thanks eric and glad she actually turned some good parts for the business!

I’d love to see an old 6.2/6.5 Diesel, or something else retro. Maybe you’ll come across one at some point.

Thanks for the video. I own a 2003 Ram 2500 5.9. I learned quite alot about how these engines are designed. I keep oil changes and all fluids fresh and changed more frequent than specs. Hope it does not end its life as your example.

30:42 - “This is safe…” I giggled for like two minutes after hearing that 🤣

Sunday morning starts with a cup of coffee and Eric doing a teardown. Thanks once again!!

Great video Eric!!! The truck fleet, That I work on have the DT-466E engines and the Cummins 6.7 engines... Both of the basic engine designs are decent and put out decent H.P. & Torque, however- they are NOT without problems... Most of the problems seem to be with the variable geometry turbos & exhaust- after treatment systems, but several other problems have arisen with the fuel systems , electronics, inadequate drive trains (earlier non commercial vehicles) , Egr systems, as well.... And genuine or even aftermarket replacement parts are expen$ive, REALLY EXPEN$IVE!!! My guess is the broken rings were caused by the same thing that caused the failed bearings....Contaminants in the engine oil causing detonation (uncontrolled burn of fuel)... Fuel and coolant have been found several times in the engine oil, and sometimes-high pressure engine oil to drive the HUI (High pressure Unit Injection) has been found in the super High Pressure fuel systems, in numerous engines in our truck fleet... Some of the trucks had only 70-80k. miles when these internal leaking issues started... The high compression ratios and ridiculously high fuel pressures associated with the fuel injection systems can easily over-stress the components that were tasked to contain these demanding requirements. When there is even a very slight blockage in the micro-fine passages that the fuel must pass through, massive damage to the fuel system could be the end result because of over-pressurisation.... This is the reason WHY I favor good old cast-iron spark ignition engines that used carburetors... So much more reliable, FAR less expen$ive and FAR less trouble to keep running properly on a budget, and more than capable of maintaining any speed limit... Parts and supplies for several of the older vehicles with the less complex, / more reliable designs are STILL readily available because the after market companies KNOW that many people prefer the older 'obsolete' designs that still operate quite well on the very same roads and speed limits that were traveled on, well over 60 years ago.... BTW, the 'cause' of dry engine oil filter- was surely 'caused' by a person removing the last filter this engine had, after it developed these problems... The oil filters on problem engines , are a primary source to check for metal.... They are disected and carefully looked at to inspect how bad that engine is... The filter that You took off is probably an unused one - to fill the empty spot that was left after the last filter this engine operated with, was removed for the inspection...

"a bigger bar" Brings out excaliber

What a lot of people don't understand is Case corporation developed this engine and the 8.3 CT to replace their diesel tractor engines. The 377/401/451/504 6 cylinder had been in production since the mid 50's. These are tractor engines. Bulldozer engines. Excavator engines. Business class truck engines. The dirty max was a pickup truck engine, and the 7.3 powerstroke was a gas schoolbus engine converted to diesel.

You could tear down a Lego engine and I would still watch.

Thank you for another great tear down.

Something like 60 years ago, I was disassembling a very high like 3.4L Jaguar. All the rings broke when I forced the pistons out of the bores like you did here, and the rings broke. I was talking about it later, and someone mentioned I should have obtained a ridge reamer to knock the ridge at the tops of the bores.

Excellent video. Sorta like watching grass grow, but very informative and entertaining. Thank you.

Always great vids! It would be nice to see a GM LM2 3.0 diesel. Both the Wife's Yukon and my Silverado have it, and I'm curious to see what they look like on the inside.

Thanks for another great teardown?

I am from Australia and just spent 3 months in the USA. Even went to St Louis. Going through a supermarket and saw Reynold's Wrap and thought of this channel. :)

Another great teardown video, thanks for sharing 👍.

Definitely my favorite channel right now

Eric you rock 🤘

My 2005 Ram 2500 Cummins has 300,000 miles on it as of last oil change and I've only had the injectors changed once, at 240,000, and while it might need a new fuel control monitor it still runs like a top and I routinely get 20 mpg on the highway.. great truck.. I'm sure it will outlast me

I have enjoined that tear down tremendously.I am a Dodge owner and had a Cummins 1997 4x4 Automatic, a lemon tranny,broke down 4 times. Computer malfunction, would lockup tranny on two gears when you wanted to go ahead an eventually tore the low gear up.Hauled many heavy loads with it. Gaston

When gasoline ignites it is like a hard shove to the piston. When diesel fuel ignites it is like a sledge hammer blow. It is not surprising that high mileage diesel engines would have a few broken rings from the repeated fatigue of those hammer blow. It is amazing what shock waves can do. I have been in the marine industry for nearly 30 years. I once saw a ski boat come in that had been involved in a tee bone style collision during transport from the owners home to the water. The hull was struck in the middle of the starboard side, and there was visible damage, but the surprising bit was what could be seen on the opposite side. 'evidently the shock wave from the impact had traveled around the hull, in both directions, and struck in phase so that they doubled the power of the individual waves. In a large area on the port side, opposite the collision, the epoxy resin was completely shattered without any sort of direct contact to that side of the boat.

Ideally you want to loosen the injectors before removing the supply tubes. They’re press fit to the injectors and need to be matched or replaced

Your video’s are pure chaos and I love it!

I always learn something new with each of your vid, thanks.

Lol you could loop taking the camshaft part to extend it for as long as you want...

Can't believe it's locked up, never seen a 5.9 locked up, but its man made so it's definitely possible. Great vid.

I think, I THINK, the engine ingested a moderate amount of water then continued running. Enough water to smash the bearings, but not enough to bend a rod. Then the truck was run through the "misfire" to attempt to clear it with the logic "It's still running so it isn't hurt" Then the water in the oil plus the bearing damage caused it to seize. The heavy deposits on the piston crown on the cylinders with broken rings is a sure fire sign of this. On top of that, that particular color in the oil pan is piston powder from rocking side to side from broken rings. The only other real logical possibility with all those symptoms considered is this engine was in a rollover accident and run upside down. the oil would have drained out of the filter and not necessarily back in.

If you still have the oil pump check to see if it slips under load. I have a 96 12 valve and at about 240,000 miles I lost oil pressure at idle but would cone up at higher rpm. Until oil was cold then no pressure at all. The rotor was slipping on the shaft. It didn't show up unless you jambed something in the pump and then turned the gear. Enjoy your show. Keep it up

Ol' trusty 5.9s...best thing to come in a chrysler product well ever

They pulled the oil filter to check the oil before going farther. The old filter told them it's junk don't do anything else. They put a new one on to keep it from making a mess.

Just something about you recording the engine break down that it is interesting to continue watching on all that you do - thx for sharing - I guess we all are waiting to see the "why" the engine has an issue. I think it is important to know the mileage - And this one is a puzzle with the empty oil pump - and the water issue -

I enjoy every tear down!

Yeah, it's been a while. I was BOMBING these and the 12v and busting 5.0's before it was cool. I was testing chip boxes in my '99 24v for a fledgling company way back then called EDGE products. I remember Auto-Meter had to calibrate and screen-print new 60psi boost gauges for us. 😅👍

Oil starvation. Guessing by the dry filter, someone changed the oil and forgot to put new oil in it. Sounds like someone used Jiffy Lube. These engines usually go hundreds of thousands of miles if maintained and unmodified.

Thank You good sir. I appreciate the careful consideration of autopsy results.

Someone very obviously took a buncha stuff apart and NOPED … Be interesting to see what you discover

I’d bet the antifreeze was ugly when that engine laid down. Probably suffered from less than stellar maintenance repeatedly running hot would break the rings, major blow by would ensue. Oil would have gotten very dirty very quickly. It probably also had high oil consumption, oil probably got low as others have suggested in the comments lost oil pressure to a couple of rods and the rest as they say is history. A very good diesel mechanic friend of mine once showed me the significance of poor coolant maintenance. He had a shop full of farm tractors in various states of disassembly. When I suggested he might be suffering from a touch of ADD he explained that 9 out of the 10 tractors that were in his shop at the time had engine issues due to poor coolant maintenance. Corrosion , cavitation, oxidation etc. I’ll bet that happened to the old 5.9. By the way 3 or 4 of those tractors had 5.9s great engine but they still need maintenance.

Great video. I really enjoy listening to your comments while removing engine components. I agree periodic oil changes and maintaining fluid level is a key to long engine life. Keep up the great videos. I'll be watching. PS: Can you do a 2017/2018 Toyota Highlander engine some time? I'm looking to pickup a Highlander and wonder how they stand up and your comments. Thank You!

The filter was dry because the guy who owned the engine removed the original because it was full of water oil and metal. The fillter was dry because it never was started to fill it up Most buyers first look at the filter when buying a unknown engine thanks for your over the top perfect video and tear down of the Cummins Mike

I'm waiting for a dip stick victory/touchdown spike.

It looks like they changed the oil and realized after they ran the engine without putting fresh oil in it

I was just watching as you go, knowing every step you took and were going to take. I do no less than 25 of these, and the 6.7s, a year. It's my bread and butter, along with Duramaxes and Power Strokes.

I like the higher end oil filters, they just have better filtering efficiency, which may mean little however I want it. I religiously change my oil at 5k miles, or 1 years. Which ever comes first, and for my car 1 year always comes first. That thing sees 2k-3k OCI with high end filters. Truck gets 2-3 OCI per year however, I run Mobil EP in everything.

High exhaust temps makes the top of the piston swell and score up the walls and crack the rings. They mostly drove it low on oil and it was trying to lock up got very hot and all that happen. User neglect unlike the 6.4l

Was sort of a mess but as long as there are no cracks in the block or head it looks like it could be rebuilt.

I really enjoy your videos! It makes the wheels in my head get to spinning. Cummins made a tough engine!

Just fascinating to see what the innards of my Cummins 5.9 look like! Thanks for making this video.

Would love to see you do a VW 2.0l tdi

I don't think anyone else would be interested but I'm really curious to know how you inventory your parts. If you keep a perpetual inventory in detail must require a lot of input time.

thank you again sir for the effort and the content it was stellar

26:40 - the Second you started spinning it I went "oooo I want one of those to play with" and then you said that's what people do with them LOOOOL.

I was also taught to unbolt a head the reverse order of the torque sequence. Also to keep every part in order where it went.